Rainy Day Plan
by Texas-Devil-Or-Angel
Summary: When unexpected rain threatens Sammy Winchester's birthday outing someone has to find a way to save it.


AN: This was written for themegalosaurus's Sam Birthday Fic Celebration over on tumblr.

I chose Sam's third birthday and to the best of my knowledge there's no actual canon info for Sam at this age, so I just picked an idea and ran with it. Hope it's not too sappy.

Many thanks to LoveThemWinchesters for the beta.

* * *

The morning of Sam Winchester's third birthday began much like many others in his very young life. The only constant changes being the days of the week and the names of the towns in which they resided.

On this particular Friday, John Winchester was awakened by the familiar sounds of the small television and the not-so-quiet whispering voices of his two sons drifting from the living room of the small, rural Texan duplex they were currently residing in.

He quickly rolled out of bed knowing that seven year old Dean, however good he was at getting his younger brother to co-operate, would have his hands full keeping the youngster from demanding his present for much longer.

He was proven correct when, immediately upon seeing his father, the three year old ran towards him saying, _"Daddy, we go zoo today!"_

Thanks to Sam's recent fascination with animals and Mrs. Franklin's ( _their landlady and sometimes babysitter)_ mention of a small local zoo, John had been persuaded to agree to take the boys to said zoo for Sam's birthday.

John's smile was genuine when he laughingly replied, "Of course, buddy. Of course we're going to the zoo today. It's your birthday after all, isn't it? But what say we have some breakfast first? Who's up for pancakes?"

It was halfway through the sticky meal (a stubborn three year old and copious amounts of syrup served up by a playful seven year old guaranteed a mess) that a different sound registered with the oldest Winchester—and the sound spelled certain disaster for the family's plans for the day.

Rain.

* * *

" _Nooooooo. I want zoo,"_ Sam sobbingly answered his father's latest question the same way he'd been answering every question or suggestion for the past ninety minutes. It was a miracle the little boy hadn't cried himself into exhaustion yet. Even Dean's usually effective tactics had failed to stem the flow of tears for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The closest they'd managed was when they'd told Sam that they would go to the zoo tomorrow, but Sam's stubborn streak had won out and the reprieve had ended with Sam just adding _"now"_ to the end of what had become his standard reply.

John watched as Dean moved to where Sam lay on the worn sofa once again and tried to soothe the toddler wordlessly this time.

The older boy pulled the youngster onto his lap and started rubbing his back soothingly. After a few minutes, as the younger's sobs started to cease, Dean started speaking in a low tone. _"Come on Sammy, you gotta stop cryin'. You'll make yourself sick and then you won't get to go to the zoo at all."_

John watched as Sam's small body shuddered with the force of his now quiet sobs even as he burrowed further into his big brother's arms. Sam's voice when he spoke next sounded hoarse. _"Wanna go zoo, De. Wanna see lions and ephalants and monkeys and zebwas and griaffes. Please De. Wanna see 'em."_

" _I know, Sammy, I know,"_ Dean's voice reassured. _"I know you do, but we'd be stuck in the car 'cause it's raining. I wish there was some way we could still see—"_ Dean's voice broke off suddenly. He pushed Sam back onto the couch gently and then stood and headed towards the door saying, _"Got an idea, but I gotta go talk to Mrs. Franklin first. I'll be right back."_ And with that he was out of the house and knocking on the neighbor's door before John could question him.

* * *

When Dean returned fifteen minutes later with a paper bag in his hand, he had a twinkle in his eyes and a large grin on his young face. _"Hey Dad can you drive us to the park?"_

" _It's still raining, Dean."_

" _I know, but it doesn't matter."_ Dean held the bag up and shook it slightly. _"We're not gettin' out of the car."_ When John still looked unconvinced he added, _"Please, Dad. It's for Sammy's birthday."_

" _Okay, okay."_

Dean motioned to Sam. " _Come on, squirt. Let's get you dressed. Oh, hey, Dad? Can we bring some sandwiches?"_

As the boys headed toward the bedroom, Sam's voice could be heard asking hopefully, _"We go zoo now, De?"_

Dean shook his head and answered, "No, not the zoo, Sammy,-better."

The drive to the park took less than five minutes from the duplex. Dean refused to answer what exactly he had planned during the drive. The park was abandoned because of the rain and John had his pick of parking spots. Once the Impala was situated, John turned toward the back of the car and addressed Dean, _"Okay, son, what's the big surprise? What's better than the zoo?"_

" _An African safari,"_ Dean replied with a huge grin as he reached into the bag, pulled out the contents, and held them up to Sam's eyes.

For a long while the only sounds that could be heard in the Impala were the click of the device's lever and turning reels and John's and Dean's attempts to sound like different African animals. But best of all were the sounds of Sam's laughter and squeals of: _"More, more"_ and _"Again, again."_

Later that night as he stood watching his exhausted boys sleep, John found himself offering up a prayer of thanks, to whichever higher being that might be listening, that Mrs. Franklin had saved so many of her children's toys for her grandchildren and that said being would let his boys always be there to get each other past the crying days like Dean had been there for Sam on this day.

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _[Contents of the bag…are shown in the cover image. Sorry, this idea worked better over on AO3, LJ and Tumblr]_


End file.
